This invention relates to pet relief stations which provide safe, sanitary management of pet excretions. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices for the collection and disposal of animal excrement, and still more particularly, the present invention pertains to a litter box which is adapted to allow simple and easy disposal of pet excrement from the litter box.
Many persons keep small pets, e.g., cats, hamsters or rabbits, as such pets are beneficial to their owners, especially elderly and children. However, management of pet excretions is important for the health and comfort of both the pet and for the people in contact with the pet. Pet excrement can harbor such diseases as toxoplasmosis and put the elderly and children at risk.
Cats, in particular, are fastidious about their personal hygiene and instinctively seek to cover up their excrement with loose soil or sand. To meet this need, cat owners generally provide their pets with litter boxes partially filled with specially manufactured granular or pelletized `cat litter`. Most such commercially available pet litter is designed to absorb the fluid from animal wastes deposited therein, forming dry lumps of solid excrement and litter clumps held together by dried pet urine.
Nonetheless, one of the most unpleasant aspects of owning a cat as an indoor house pet is changing the cat litter box. Normally, cat litter is heaped in the bottom portion of a cat litter box, and the cat performs its excretory functions while standing on the cat litter. Within a short time period, noxious odors emanate from the litter box as a result of the ongoing putrefaction of the urine and excrement. To counteract this malodorous tendency of litter boxes, most cat owners purchase litter that is able to at least partly mask the odors. However, this masking ability significantly adds to the cost of the cat litter, and thus, the cost of keeping the cat.
In view of the cost of the litter, the owner usually attempts to periodically scoop out as much excrement as possible in order to extend effective life of the litter. The alternative of discarding all of the expensive litter is viewed as very uneconomical.
Various improvements on the basic animal litter box have been patented. Examples of these include: `Self Cleaning Litter Box`, U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,325 to Latter, comprising two identical rectangular containers with a perforated and somewhat shallower tray fittable between them to separate litter granules from dried waste and `Pet Litter Separator`, U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,822 to Miller, also having two identical containers that can have a perforated screen fitted between them to separate litter from waste.
Despite the ability of these litter boxes to extend the useful life of the litter, the litter is eventually saturated and still must be removed from the litter box. Thereafter, a new supply of litter is added to the box. None of the prior an devices simplifies the chore of cleaning of the litter box at that stage.
To make cleaning the litter box more palatable, many pet owners, initially at least, line their litter boxes with a plastic lining or bag. However, the pet's claws frequently dig through the litter, and snag and tear the plastic thereby negating the advantage of using the plastic. Eventually, most pet owners give up using a liner or bag, and clean the litter box each time new litter is added to the box.
Additionally, many of the litter box improvements are difficult for the disabled and elderly to operate, and these improvements frequently do not adequately provide for the liquid, acidic and odoriferous nature of pet urine.
A need, therefore, exists for simple and compact apparatus that permits easy removal of soiled pet litter.